Help wanted: Jobs for the disabled

Thousands of adults with Down syndrome, autism and other developmental disabilities work in Ohio at jobs that pay less money than a teen-age babysitter earns. Some say the low pay is immoral; others view the federal law as a godsend.

Your Right to Know

When Gov. John Kasich put his name to paper yesterday, it was Micah Hetrick who dotted the
"i."

Life stories like Hetrick’s punctuate Kasich’s new Employment First initiative — to make
real-world job placement a priority for working-age Ohioans with developmental disabilities.

Hetrick, 23, of Dublin, has Down syndrome. But after graduating from Dublin Scioto High School
and Project SEARCH, a training and employment program for people with disabilities that originated
in Cincinnati, he works at Sam’s Club making $8.50 an hour.

Hetrick and his mother, Sue, stood with pride yesterday at OhioHealth’s Dublin Methodist
Hospital, where Kasich signed an executive order giving legs to a new policy that would essentially
spread the fundamentals of Project SEARCH statewide.

“We just want to thank you for recognizing that everyone deserves a chance to work in the
community with an opportunity to make a livable wage,” Sue Hetrick said, addressing Kasich, his
staff members and the crowd at Dublin Methodist.

“He’s obviously a taxpayer, and he’s also a consumer using his own money,” she said. “He’s
reduced his reliance on Social Security.”

Kasich even chimed in during the Hetricks’ time on stage, joking to Micah: “We’re trying to cut
his taxes.”

Despite Project SEARCH’s success — local program sites are in Columbus and more than 200 other
places in five countries — many people with developmental disabilities in more-traditional programs
end up working in what’s commonly known as a sheltered workshop for very low wages.

Some experts in state policy said Kasich’s initiative is considered a psychological change for
state and county disabilities departments. Recalling a conversation he had with John Martin,
director of the state Department of Developmental Disabilities, Kasich said: “He came into my
office ... and he said, ‘Look, there’s nothing wrong with a sheltered workshop.’ ”

“It’s meant for some, but it’s not meant for all,” Kasich said. “We have people with
developmental disabilities who we’ve got to stand up for who can be placed in a setting, and they’r
e going to be getting even more self-confidence, they’re going to feel better about everything they
do.”

Kasich’s executive order creates an Employment First Taskforce to establish and oversee the
program, and it puts the Department of Developmental Disabilities in charge of leading the task
force.

The governor also sought to ensure that the Individualized Education Program sets up goals
related to community employment for developmentally disabled students beginning at age 14.

“As far as I’m concerned, this is one of the best days we’ve had here,” Kasich said. “This is
sort of like a bright light breaking through the clouds.”